


How to Keep Worm in the Snow

by Tooth



Series: Oh Worm [5]
Category: Deltarune (Video Game)
Genre: Anal Knotting, Anal Sex, Other, Rough Sex, and a very angery worm, dubcon, frottage kinda sorta i guess idk, unhealthy power dynamic, weird spade physiology, weird worm physiology, winter rough housing with lesser dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2019-10-11
Packaged: 2020-10-30 02:00:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20806652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tooth/pseuds/Tooth
Summary: When one believes themselves to be so extraordinary and magnificent, one may also expect others will treat them as such. And for some it takes quite a lot of rejection to peel away the layers of self-importance and denial. But every ego has its limit - even one as great as that of duke Rouxls Kaard, who learns the hard way not to project his own self-love onto others.---I chose not to use archive warnings because they feel too specific and limited, warnings below:Contains a near death experience from freezing, scenes of harsh dubcon, rough sex, a disregard to the pleads of a partner during sex, borderline noncon.If you want anything else tagged, just ask in the comments, I respect and understand any trigger.





	How to Keep Worm in the Snow

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is brought to you by: friendship!  
no srsly if it wasn't for my lovely friends who encouraged me and helped me figure out how to get my ideas down, this wouldda taken even longer than it already did! so shout out to hairasha and kal for bein my friends and partners in crime <333  
also a big shout out to my awesome fan eclecti-kat (https://archiveofourown.org/users/khrome) for absolutely jumping onto the job of beta reading the moment i asked for help! you're awesome and helped to give this fic a good sheen <333  
and an extra special shoutout to hairasha again, for drawing this fanart of this fic before it was even finished :DD you inspired and motivated me so much <3333  
https://66.media.tumblr.com/46824f4e3f7d08e9bdedfad8cffabe62/tumblr_pnys1vOAnR1v73sqho1_1280.png  
(sure hope that can be opened lol, fuck tumblr)  
and finally just, thanks for bein patient with me y'all c: i know my creative process is very, very slow, so i'm thankful to you all for not pushing me and instead being very kind and supportive, shoutout to you all <333

In winter, the forest of the Dark world looked quite a lot different. The usually orange treetops were bare of leaves, the right angled branches instead covered in white pillows of snow that somehow still clumped into blocky shapes. The usual rustling of bushes and cries of all kinds of forest critters were gone, only the low whistle of the wind remained.

It was one early afternoon when the relative silence was disturbed by the clopping of hooves and crunching of snow. Two black Kneights came riding through the snowy woods, with the same colour Bishook as their coachman. The horse-headed creatures pulled behind them a grand sleigh, decorated with masterfully carved hearts and clubs. Some time ago it used to belong to the Kings of those suits, who often partook in scenic rides together when winter came about. Back in those days they used this time away from their wives and children to drink wine and share obscene jokes, their rambunctious laughter heard throughout the entire forest. But today, no such thing could be heard.

Lancer didn’t feel like laughing, or even smiling, in fact quite the opposite. He sat on the large pillow, the surrounding furs tightly wrapped around him almost like a straightjacket, giving as overt of a frown as he could muster. Rouxls tried to ignore the pouty look, wrapped up even tighter to protect his delicate skin from the cold air. He wore his usual smile as he stared out into the dark woods silently, seemingly content, but in reality angry that he got roped into leaving his warm chambers. And his great sacrifice was not even properly appreciated!

He glanced over to the ungrateful little brat, giving an annoyed sigh even through his smile.

“Come now, younge prince. We art outside, art we not? Isth this not what thy wantedeth?”

“No,” Lancer grumbled, “I wanted to go sliding.” Rouxl’s smile broke into an annoyed frown.

“We art sliding. This isth a sleigh, a sleight slideth,” he raised a hand under the layers of furs. Lancer turned to the worm with an angry snarl.

“This isn’t what I meant and you know it!” The display of his tiny sharp teeth was laughable in comparison to his father, but the teenage rowdiness Lancer was getting into more and more lately angered Rouxls.

“Don’t thy growl at me like that! It was not I who forbid thine silly plans! Gah!” The duke threw his head up in anger, flipping his sparkly hair. Lancer put his head back down, even poutier, trying to show his displeasure by folding his arms. The many furs got in the way however, frustrating the young Spade even more until he began to flail, growling and trying to kick off the excessive covering.

“Hey! Thy stop that this instante!” Rouxls quickly reached out and roughly covered him back up, practically holding him tied down until the child stopped trying to get free. He let go just to see the kid frowning again, turning away from the duke sharply in anger.

“Hmp!” Rouxls turned away just as upset, leaving the angry silence to prevail once again.

The Kneights looked at one another uncomfortably, then subtly turned to glance at the Bishook. The high ranking chess piece tugged at their reigns to make them face forward again, not wanting to stir up any trouble.

The uncomfortable silence continued, Lancer staring out one way while Rouxls looked the other. His mind wandered as he watched the trees pass by, stars was Lancer getting impudent lately. What was always a soft little teddy bear of a child with only occasional spouts of mischief now grew to be a cheeky rascal, recklessly riding his bike all around the castle, pulling pranks on the soldiers and even defying Rouxls, his own…! well, babysitter.

The duke sighed to himself lightly, turning back to Lancer. He seemed less pouty now, more sad, really… It made Rouxls feel kind of bad. He knew the child just wanted to play, get out that youngster energy - he was no different back in his nymph years. It even crossed his mind that, maybe, he could turn a blind eye and let him frolic in the snow for at least a little, he did have his warm snowsuit and boots on… but what if he really did get sick? The king made it pretty clear he didn’t want Lancer to catch the flu and then spread his germs all around the castle. King Spade  _ hated _ the flu. It made sense since the Spades had some especially nasty symptoms, specifically constant gooey black discharge from their face-hole and both mouths. Rouxls really didn’t want to be responsible for this kind of misery, since he knew the king would no doubt take it out on him.

No, letting Lancer have fun was out of the question. Still though, he felt bad seeing him so down…

“Younge prince?” he spoke softly. Lancer didn’t answer for a while, then sighed a bit and hummed in question. “What would thy say to a little game of wordes?”

The child’s chiding continued for a little more before he finally raised his head from under the fluffy hood to look at the worm, still rather unenthused but at least responding.

“What kinda game?” Rouxls smiled as he scooted a bit closer on the wooden pew.

“‘Tis a game I hadth inventedeth - ‘Mine keene eyese observeth’, I calle it. I shall looketh arounde and pick somethinge I hath noticed, and then thy have to—”

“Figure out what it is? You mean ‘I spy with my crystal eye’?” Lancer interrupted Rouxls, making him grunt in disgruntled surprise. “Uncle Diamond taught me that game when I was three.”

Rouxls stuttered, trying to save face, finally shaking his head dismissively. “Ah uh well, and WHOMST doust thy thinke taught HIM that game?” He laughed through his embarrassment, “hah! Younge prince, same worm differente bog!”

Lancer couldn’t help but smirk a bit before giving a full smile. “I see, I didn’t think of that. You’re so smart and cool, lesser dad!” Rouxls smiled cockily, flipping his hair. Lancer stuck out his tongue as he looked around. “Well, should I start or—”

“No I go firste!” Rouxls insisted, “I am very goude at thise game!” He looked up, looking a bit more excited than he was meaning to, and rubbed his chin for a moment before nodding to himself. “Yes, fine, mine keene eyese observeth somethinge… dazzlingth!”

“Is it you?” Rouxls visibly flinched at having been defeated so easily. Lancer took it as a yes and clapped his blue mittens with joy, slipping out of the furs a bit. “Okay my turn!” He looked around a moment, fingers tapping to his chin, “okay, I spy—I mean, my keene eyeses observetheth somethinggg… fluffy!”

“Is it me?” Rouxls pointed to himself excitedly.

“Nope!”

“Mine hair!”

“Nope.”

“Mine… hat?”

“No.”

“Mineee... thirde chest ring?”

“...no?”

“Oh, oh! Isth it—”

“It’s nothing about you, lesser dad,” Lancer said amusedly. 

“Ah, that’sth a hard one then…” Rouxls frowned in deep thought, raising his head to look around. “Hmm… is it...” The moment he turned away Lancer sneakily shed a bit more of the fur coverings. “Isth it the Kneights?”

“We ain’t fluffy!” one of the horse heads turned offendedly.

“It’s not the Kneights,” Lancer shook his head. The Bishook turned the dark shape of his split face to the young Spade.

“Is it the furs Your highness is sitting in?” he asked in a raspy whisper. Lancer just shook his head, hardly suppressing a big mischievous grin. Rouxls began to whine, holding onto his head in deep concentration, smushing his fluffy hat without even noticing.

“HmmmmmmmmMMMAAH— I don’t know!!” He turned to the child with pleading eyes, clasping his gloved hands. “Giveth me anothere hint, prithee!”

“It’s also cold, and fun to play in!” Lancer exclaimed. The duke shut his eyes in even more intense thought... then finally shot them open in joyful realization.

“It’s the snowe!!!” He didn’t even wait for Lancer to confirm it. “YES! HAHAHA I AMTH SO SMARTE!” he got up to pose victoriously, letting his cape flap majestically. Lancer laughed, rolling his nonexistant eyes. “Okay mine turne again!” Rouxls sat back down and looked around carefully, giving Lancer all the more freedom to continue his sneakiness. Finally he turned to the child with a wide smile, clearly greatly enjoying himself.

“I observeth with mine eyese somethinge very welle designeth!” he said as he adjusted the collar of his long blue coat. Both Kneights groaned, quickly shushed by the Bishook. Lancer masked his subtle facepalm as a thoughtful scratching of his tear shaped head.

“Hmm, is ittt, the sleigh?” he humored the worm. Rouxls practically jumped to his feet in joy.

“HA! IT ISTH NOT!” he yelled victoriously. “It isth mine wintere  _ ensamblé _ , for  _ I _ hadth designeth it!” Once again he showed off his creation with a small twirl before he sat back down, giving the Spade a big self absorbed grin. “Thine move, fool!”

Lancer kept silent for a moment. He subtly checked the furs, no longer tying him down, then the edge of the sleigh, short enough to jump over. Finally he gave the duke an innocent little smile as he spoke.

“I spy with my keenethe eye…” He suddenly raised his hand to point behind the duke, “something over there!”

Rouxls fell for the ruse without a second, or even a first thought. He turned around immediately and stared intently into the woods on his side of the sleigh, eyes scanning all over with intense concentration.

“Oh! Isth it that tree?” he finally turned around, his smile instantly falling. Lancer was already way ahead on the run. It took Rouxls a moment to come to his senses before he jumped up, shedding all the fur covers without a second thought.

“LANCER! WHY YOU LITTLE MISBEHAVINGE RASCAL!” he pointed after him dramatically. The Kneights stopped as he jumped off the sleigh and gave chase, his white boots burying into the snow with each step. “YOU WERE SUPPOSETH TO STAY IN THE SLEIGHE! AND I HAVEN’T GUESSED THINE RIDDLE YET!!!”

Soon, the prince and the duke both disappeared among the trees. The Kneights and the Bishook stayed behind, staring after them, frankly shocked at the absurdity of what just happened. For a while they kept silent, until one of the Kneights turned to the higher chess piece questioningly.

“Uh… should we… follow them?” The Bishook scrunched his face in a concerned pseudo-blink.

“Well… I heard no order. Have you?” he asked the horsemen. They both shook their heads as they dropped their harnesses, one lighting a cigarette.

“Nah.”

“Nope, not a word.”

Rouxls forgot all about the cold as he ran after the prince. Lancer was surprisingly good at zigzagging through the trees and bushes, even in snow that was easily up to his knees. He laughed with mischievous excitement as he dragged the spitting duke through the snowy underbrush, then sneakily dove into a bush and under a fallen log.

Rouxls dove after him, but just slid through to the other side of the shrubbery on his stomach, not noticing the hollow trunk the child hid in. He got up, practically foaming at the mouth in frustration, looking around frenziedly. There weren’t even any tracks to follow! He turned this way and that, fists gritted, his expensive suit covered in snow, old fallen leaves and cold dirt.

“Oh you little—when I geteth mine hands on thee I shallth—” Suddenly he spotted him emerge on the other end of the fallen log. “HEY!” he pointed after him, the young Spade giving him a big mischievous grin. He tried to give chase as quickly as possible, stumbling and falling over face first in the snow, but quickly scratching his way back up on his feet to run after him.

Lancer now had a better head start, even turning around to run backwards a few times just to mock the duke with his little devilish toothy blep. Rouxls was practically seeing red, or in his case blue, spitting and barking, hands outreached to catch the little misbehaver.

“Come on, we’re almost there!” Lancer shouted after him joyfully. He jumped onto the remains of an old broken down carriage left in the woods ages ago, running up the axle just for the heck of it, obviously having a great time playing chase.

Rouxls was getting out of breath, when finally Lancer stopped above a slope, clear of obstacles. He ran up to an old tree hollow and reached inside, pulling out a… cooking pan? It was the big, rectangular kind, for cooking a whole chicken or baking a jumbo sized pie. Rouxls even recognized it as a specific piece he had gotten a complaint about, because it went missing from the kitchen a few days ago!

Lancer threw the pan down just above the slope, turning to Rouxls with excited mischief in his lack of eyes. Rouxls raised a warning finger, eyes wide with anger.

“DON’T THOU EVEN THINKE ABOUT IT JACK!!!” he yelled as threateningly as he could muster. The child seemed to only get more excited however, crouching a bit, ready for action. Rouxls gave it his all, adding speed, then practically launching himself forth.

But Lancer was faster. He kicked into the pan and then jumped right in, fitting in perfectly just like a big cooked poultry. He raised his arms up with pure joy as his makeshift bobsleigh sped down the slope, leaving the duke in the dust, or in this case buried face first in the layer of snow.

Kaard lifted his now hatless head with a look of utter annoyance. He blew the hair from his face and slowly got up on his knees, looking down the slope to see Lancer going full speed ahead. Gah, the little brat! Rouxls was getting tired of his antics, especially since the duke himself was the one who’d get in trouble! What was even so—

His train of thought crashed just a moment before Lancer did. The child ran full speed right into a large tree at the bottom of the slope, flinging off and falling head first into the snow, only to be buried even further under an avalanche from the shaken branches above. Rouxls felt his entire body tense up at the sight, mind flooded with fear for the poor child, and before he even knew it he was running down to save him.

“LANCER!” he yelped with worry, almost stumbling down, running even faster than when he was giving chase. He arrived under the shaken tree and immediately went down on all fours to dig into the avalanche with only his thin white gloves.

“LANCER?! MY CHILD!?!” He couldn’t even feel the intense cold on his moist skin as he dug and dug, until finally his hand brushed against something. Frantically he threw the snow away, finding the Spade buried upside down, only his kicking legs sticking out. “ART THOU OKAY?! DID THEE BREAK ANYTHING?!” Rouxls yelled with worry as he pulled him out and set him down on his butt, dusting the snow off and checking him all over for injuries in near hysterics.

Lancer shook his head to get all the snow from his face-hole, then gave the duke a huge smile of pure joy, throwing his arms up.

“That was AWESOME!” he exclaimed excitedly. Rouxls just stared back, mind still boggled with worry. “I went so fast like WOOSH! and then BAM! and the snow went POMF!” he gesticulated wildly.

Rouxls stared at Lancer for a moment, his worry slowly turning back to annoyance. Clearly he was played for a fool once again… but even through all the previous anger, he couldn’t help but also be a bit glad that the child was okay. He got really worried there, the crash looked pretty intense, he would never forgive himself if something happened to the prince! Well, because it’d cost him his life, obviously…

He wanted to reprimand the little scoundel for worrying him so much and misbehaving and all… But seeing the huge ecstatic smile on the Spade, he couldn’t help but feel a bit… happy for him. A small smile crept onto the duke’s face and he gave a defeated sigh.

“Oh Lancer…” he ran a hand through his hair to get all the snow out. “Thy’re going to be the death of mine one of these dayse.” Lancer placed his hands in the snow between his legs, giving a mischievous blep. For a moment they looked at each other, Lancer’s look getting a bit more contemplative, putting a finger to his tongue before raising his head.

“Could we… stay, just a little bit? I promise I won’t get sick,” he said pleadingly, his other hand kneading the snow anxiously. Rouxls gave a half annoyed half worried frown.

“Lancer, thy know what thine father hadth—”

“Please-please-please-please-please-please!” Lancer pleaded in a cute whimper, clasping his hands together. He had gotten pretty good at using his cuteness against the duke.

Rouxls didn’t answer for a moment, just looking down at the puppy dog lack-of-eyes Lancer was giving him… finally he sighed.

“Fine, fine… How couldst I possibley deny thee such joy, howevere simple?” he shrugged. Lancer jumped up like a spring loaded toy and clapped his hands excitedly. Rouxls raised a pointed finger, “but only for a shorte whi—” Before he could finish Lancer lunged to hug around his neck in a tight hug, nearly dragging him to the ground. He was not as tiny as he used to be.

“No worries!” he jumped off and began digging in the snow with both hands, throwing the snow back between his legs, just like a pup. “I’ll only slide a bit and we’ll go home and dad won’t find out I promise!”

Rouxls watched him dig for his makeshift sleigh, still kneeling in the snow. A strong shiver suddenly bolted up his back—only now that things got a little less scary was he realizing just how cold he was! His naturally slick skin was not a good match for the freezing snow, no matter how much slug paste he used. He got up, dusting himself off and adjusting his collar. Luckily he was wearing good quality wear made and designed with his low cold tolerance in mind. He couldn’t help but smile a bit to himself—oh how brilliant he was!

He was brought back to reality when Lancer ran past him and back up the hill, carrying the cooking pan on his head while he held it by the side handles. He seemed positively glowing with energy and excitement, which almost made Rouxls smile, were it not for him realizing his hat was missing—his poor head was all exposed! It probably fell off during his final lunge at the top of the hill. As he looked there, he was quite surprised just how tall the hill actually was. How could he have possibly descended it so fast? The uphill climb would hardly be so easy.

He got walking, grabbing his cape to wrap it closer around his shoulders. As he scaled the hill with slow laboured steps, Lancer came zipping down just next to him, laughing excitedly. Rouxls grinned to himself, rolling his eyes. Soon after the child went by a second time, this time in the opposite direction yet still much faster than the duke. Again he zipped by, then back up, then again, until finally Rouxls reached the top of the hill.

He watched as Lancer slid down, then fell out the pan again and rolled over his head into a clump of snow in a rather silly manner. Rouxls shook his head with an amused smirk—such simple joys for such a royal Spade. Lancer would hardly ever become even a fraction as fearsome as his father! ...his smile faltered a bit. Well, so he hoped, at least.

Not wanting to think of such things he looked around the ground for his fluffy hat. The first thing he found however was an imprint of his own face in the snow, at which he grimaced annoyedly and brushed it away with his foot. Ah, there it was! Just a little ways off he found his hat, coming over to pick it up. He dusted it off from all the snow, then turned back when he heard Lancer’s quick crunching footsteps. He looked the prince over, his snowsuit was all messy and his face blue from excitement and exertion, still bearing a huge grin, the cooking pan on his head again

“Oh deare,” Rouxls sighed, “shoulde thine father see thou now I would sureley lose my beautiful head in an instante.” Lancer wiggled wildly to shake off the snow, then carried the pan to the hollow stump to hide it again.

“Nah, don’t worry, lesser dad,” he gave the duke a toothy wink. “When we get home we’ll change clothes and nobody will find out anything.” Rouxls sighed dismissively, putting his hat back on.

“I wisheth I coulde be so sure, younge prince.” He pulled out a small pocket mirror and started checking over himself. “In any case, thy hadth thine fun, now let us heade back to the castle, yes?” He pocketed the mirror and raised his head, but suddenly, Lancer was nowhere to be seen.

Rouxls looked around, puzzled. “Lancer?” No response. The duke frowned in annoyance, putting his hands to his hips strictly. “Lancer! I amth seriouse, stop this silly game nowe and come forth!” he stomped his foot. Still no response. “LAN—”

Suddenly Rouxls yelped in shock as a clump of snow hit him right in the shoulder. He turned sharply to see the Spade standing behind a tree, holding another snowball, grinning with excited mischief.

“Gah! There thou art!” He dusted off the snow on his shoulder. “While thy were playing these silly charades, some forest fiend hadst—” He couldn’t react fast enough when Lancer flung the other clump. His eyes went wide and in the next second it exploded against his chest, pieces flying into his face. He was completely speechless for a moment, then gasped sharply in anger.

“IT WAS THOU!” he exclaimed vigorously. Lancer laughed triumphantly as the duke dusted himself off. “Why thou little—! Apologize to thine duke for your fiendish attaques!” Rouxls raised a warning finger.

Lancer covered his mouth as he approached, still holding onto his last piece of snow ammo. He came all the way to Rouxls and put his hands behind his back as he gave the duke an innocent smile.

“I’m sorry, lesser dad,” he grinned. Rouxls flipped his hair.

“Hmph! I shallt forgive thine highness this time, for I am a benevoulente and—”

The next ball hit him straight in the face, nearly costing him his balance. Rouxls stuttered through the cold snow in his mouth, then quickly rubbed at his face in pure fury.

“LANCER!” The youngster laughed with mischief, quickly running to hide back behind a tree. “I HATH BEEN GENEROUSSE AND KINDE TO THEE AND THIS IS HOW THY REPAYETH ME?!” Lancer quickly started forming more ammo as the worm approached. “WHY IF I HADTH—” He jumped from behind the trunk and scored another hit, quickly running off to hide again. He pressed his back to another tree, almost shaking with joy, giggling like a maniac. He waited until he heard steps again, awaiting his moment, then jumped from his hiding place, snowball at the ready.

But Rouxls wasn’t there. Lancer looked around confusedly. He was sure he heard the duke right around—

A noise behind him made him turn and a clump of snow suddenly hit him right in the face. He almost fell, more from surprise than the hit, quickly clearing his face-hole to see.

“A-HA!” Rouxls stood there in a wide stance, his face nearly split with a huge victorious grin. “TASTETH THINE OWN MEDICINE, PRINCE!” he yelled, pointing a finger to him dramatically.

Lancer was taken by surprise at first, but it quickly turned to pure excitement, spreading over his face in a huge grin. He quickly retaliated, but Rouxls managed to dodge his throw with a rather ungraceful duck, more a reflex than anything, holding onto his hat not to lose it again. After he regained his balance and stood back up, realizing he had actually succeeded in not getting another cold lump thrown in his face, his overconfidence grew even more. He turned to the now unarmed Spade with a huge cocky grin, but the child was already rolling up more ammo, smiling back just as brash and self confident. Rouxls quickly scooped up some of the wet cold matter himself - in the adrenaline rush it didn’t even feel that chilling in his hands anymore.

They both stood up at the same moment, throwing hands at the ready, both wearing the biggest silliest grins. For a moment they both froze, staring each other down, waiting for the other’s move like their lives depended on it. After a moment of this intense standoff, Rouxls suddenly sharply jerked his arm in a fake throw, managing to startle Lancer and make him stumble just enough for the actual throw to hit him a second later.

“HAHAHAHAHA!!!” he laughed victoriously, quickly running for cover before the prince retaliates. Lancer’s throw flew over his head in an arch and the duke practically dove behind a bush, giggling like a maniac.

The Spade was just as giddy, finding his own bunker behind a tree and quickly forming more snowballs. He watched Rouxl’s bush shake and rustle until the worm peeked from behind it with an intense stare.

“T’is be a battle thou shallt not win, prince!” he yelled loudly with joy and excitement. Lancer leaned further from behind his cover and put a hand to his mouth to shout back just as cockily.

“We’ll see about that, worm-pappa!”

A tiny pitter patter of fast feets zipped through the hall as Judex, a low ranking Spade servant, quickly carried his cargo back into the throne room. His kind was small, round body on a pair of fast thin legs, tiny sharp ears always raised up. His single eye open wide not to stumble in his rush, he had some trouble with the small wooden box, not so small to someone his size. His huge spade shaped beak was better suited to carry letters and other mail around the castle, in a long proud family tradition of message bearing. But ever since the kingdom only had a single ruler, he was used less as a vital form of fast communication around the castle and more as King Spade’s personal courier.

He ran into the throne room, quickly jumping up the steps before bowing at the king’s feet. The far larger Spade was intently reading some texts, tapping a pencil to his cheek, not even noticing that his requested item had been brought. Judex carefully looked up, then around, not sure what to do. Finally he carefully lifted one foot and gently tugged onto the black cape.

King Spade lifted his head quite fast, but quickly calmed down when seeing the sharp black beak offering him the heart shaped ruby box.

“Ah, thank you,” he muttered as he picked it up. Judex bowed and adjusted his tiny bowtie before quickly running off to continue his other errands. King Spade paid him no more attention, instead taking one of the cigars from the box. He bit off the end and spit it aside, lighting his smoke with a match. The strong aroma was still quite abrasive to his throat, making him cough subtly, he started with this quite recently. These used to belong to the King of Hearts but the more stressful running the kingdom got the more different ways to relax King Spade took upon. The hot aromatic air filling his lungs wasn’t exceptionally good but it was better than drinking. He sat back in his throne, taking another long drag, letting the smoke escape through the teeth of his abdominal mouth.

It’s been some time now since Lancer’s birthday, and the boy was growing up fast. King Spade was quite busy during the past months, so it came to him as a surprise when yesterday he finally took a good long look at the child, realizing how much he’s changed. His previously chubby baby cheeks gave room to a mischievous toothy grin, his stubby arms and legs turned much more agile, he was finally showing strength, the bulk his kind was prone to. And yet he was nowhere near the size and ferocity he himself possessed at his age. Even back when King Spade was still a Jack, he was a fearsome creature. He fondly remembered play wrestling with the other Jacks, always the king of the hill, always the top Suit. Later, just before their coronations, they often went hunting wildebeests of the dark caves beyond the forest, strange beings made of darkness, falling victim to the royal hunting party one by one. He was the one to fight them with nothing but his spade whip, his claws and fangs, his magic, all to show his power, his right to the crown.

He sighed, the smoke gently curling in the air as it escaped his face hole. Lancer was… his only son. The only one he’d ever have, since she was... gone. And in some sense he loved him, truly and honestly, wanted him happy and content - if only Lancer would be happy and content being a strong and powerful leader like him. If only he was as passionate about training and gaining power as he was about video games, digging holes and riding his bike around the castle. Could he not see? One day, King Spade will grow old and his great powers will weaken. Perhaps that time will come before any filthy Lightner sets foot in his kingdom. Who will protect the Fountain then?

She would know what to do. She could motivate him to train and learn to fight. She had a way with the child that King Spade never quite grasped, never learned to utilize, and now it was too late. And instead of her, in all her wisdom and skill, the one taking care of the child while the king was busy was an idiotic lowly worm.

His lip lifted slightly in a growl, before he took another long drag. Duke Kaard, undoubtedly the stupidest most idiotic nitwit in the entire kingdom. Sadly also his only remaining subordinate that kept Lancer engaged enough not to come bothering his busy father every five minutes. Every other teacher or proper babysitter was already behind bars, if not for revolt then for indoctrinating his son with foolish nonsense about the “good” the Lightners bore. 

Rouxls was immensely dense, but through all his faults he was at least fearfully loyal to seemingly no end. And where other soldiers couldn’t stand to look after the weird little bugger, Rouxls happily took on the challenge just to appease the king. He might not have been the best influence on the child, but at least he wasn’t the worst. And, in all fairness, having the little Spade runt constantly hanging around his neck, talking nonsense and demanding attention, was a burden he gladly handed over to someone else.

King Spade exhaled deeply, then took one last drag before putting the cigar out even though it was barely halfway done. He snapped his fingers and a Rudin guard quickly rushed over to dispose of the butt, while the king went back to reading through the heap of that day’s royal documents, adding notes with his own pencil. Having to do a job of four was quite draining, but what would he not do for his kingdom…

But although he tried to concentrate on his chores, he found himself still lingering among his previous thoughts. Not of Lancer anymore though, but of the duke instead. These busy months kept him away not only from his son, but from Duke Kaard as well. Their last encounters moronic conclusion did not help either. What was the duke thinking, latching onto his face like some slimy leech?? He’d think he made it quite clear by now that he was not in any way interested in such courtship, but of course he couldn’t expect Kaard to take a hint should it bash him over the head with a shovel. Although it has crossed his mind more than he’d care to admit these past months, it was not only his work that kept him from another close encounter - it was also the  _ fear  _ of the duke once again misunderstanding their relationsh-

No, nonono, not fear! Not in that sense! He wasn’t afraid of some pithy feelings, he cared not for the worm! It was the duke who kept insisting this was more than just another kind of servitude, from a servant, to a king, nothing more. He was the one with a mouth full of stupid romantic nonsense, spewing it around in the rare moments he wasn’t trying to swap spit with him, as if they were in some sense equal. They were  _ not. _ Duke Kaard was his to command, his servant, his property, and it infuriated him that he even thought there was more to it than-

A loud snap echoed through the throne room, alerting the guards. They turned to see their king sitting silently in the throne, quite agitated, his face blue. Both halves of the snapped pencil were still in his tightly gritted fist.

None dared say a single word.

After a moment of tense silence, King Spade slowly stood up, putting his work aside. He took a deep breath and straightened his back, giving a long exhale, before walking off without uttering even a single word.

The draft burst through the stable door, blowing over the small group of servants sitting by the oil lamp, pieces of old hay dancing over the wooden floor. The Kneight took a breath to greet his friends when the Rudin guard growled at him in frustration.

“Ah, close the damn thing!” he snarled, covering his yellow topaz eyes, “I can’t stand the cold!” The horse headed Piece snorted annoyedly, shutting the door behind himself with a kick. The rest of the group greeted him with a silent nod, the other Kneight making space on the wooden pew for his brother to sit. The Bishook cut another slice from the bread loaf, handing it over to the newcomer. The final member of the group, a young Hathy appointed to keep the stables clean, adjusted the flame of the lantern with a single tendril.

So what was new in the castle?, She asked towards the Rudin, since he was a guard of the hall connecting the stables with the rest of the kingdom. Any new outbursts of their king?

“Not really,” the Rudin shrugged. “A friend said King Spade got really angry over something today in the throne room and just stood up and left, but nobody knows what got him so mad.”

“What DOESN’T get that guy mad,” one of the Kneights wrinkled his large equine nostrils, the rest nodding. The Bishook pushed a slice of bread into his face slowly while the other Kneight took an odd piece of fruit out of his shoulder bag, outreaching a hand to the higher ranking Piece to ask for the knife.

“Man, wonder if it’ll stay like this forever…” he mumbled as he began slicing the oval shaped pear. The Hathy looked to him puzzled, tilting her large head.

What did he mean? She whirred softly. The Kneight shrugged.

“Well, yanno, the Spade overthrow,” he said, shushing his voice a bit without even realizing it. “The Kingdom is meant to have six Kings. Now the Castle only has one.” The Bishook gave a solemn sigh.

“What about the White and Black Kings? They’re still on their thrones, right?” the Rudin whispered, anxious not to be overheard. The Kneight laughed bitterly.

“Hah! They’re nothing without their Queens - who are behind bars, mind you.”

Yes, the Hathy nodded sadly, the Great Board was hardly any less under King Spade’s control than the Castle…

Silence fell among the group, only interrupted by chewing and a few muttered words as fruit slices were handed around. The stable was warm and smelled pleasantly of hay, but the atmosphere was quite grim with the conversation that just took place.

After a few minutes of silent pondering, both Kneights suddenly raised their heads, their ears standing up in alert. The others looked to them in question, but the door creaked open before either could answer.

The Rudin covered his eyes to shield them from the cold draft, but the rest watched attentively as the Spade prince came through the door butt first. His breath was laboured and fast with worry, pulling something behind himself with great strain. It took a moment before the group of servants realized what it was - it was none other than the duke!

Lancer hasn’t noticed the occupants yet, dragging his lesser dad inside by the feet anxiously. Rouxls laid with his butt and back in the large pan, but his head dragged through the snow, his hair a disheveled mess wet with half frozen slush. His skin was very pale, his eyes rolled back in his head, hardly audible mumbles on his lips. It was obvious he was barely conscious.

Oh goodness! Lancer jumped in shock at Hathy’s startled exclaim. He turned sharply to see the group of servants staring at him just as surprised and bewildered. For a moment neither knew what to say, before Lancer finally found his words.

“DON’T TELL DAD!” he yelled out, his voice cracking. The servants just nodded feverishly, finally getting on their feet to rush closer.

“What happened?” a Kneight asked, hands raised in worry. Lancer anxiously pulled at his sleeves before coming over to Rouxl’s head to pick it up from the ground. He put it in his lap and brushed the hair and snow out of the worm’s face, hands shaking in fear.

“I-I don’t know!” he whimpered, “we were playing and suddenly dad got all slow and then he fell down and I couldn’t wake him up and I didn’t know what to do and the sleigh was already gone and-!” He flinched when he felt a light touch of tendrils on his shoulders, the Hathy giving him a reassuring pat. The other Kneight closed the door and the Bishook kneeled down and took one of Rouxl’s hands in his - it was very cold to the touch.

“Oh dear,” he uttered, scrunching his face. “He’s nearly frozen to the bone.”

A Knight snorted in thought at the remark. “Do these guys even have bones?” The other Knight just shrugged.

A long high groan came from the duke, his eyes focusing just a bit somewhere into the ceiling, not even noticing everyone gathered around him. “Ooh, bollocks…” he murmured before his eyes rolled back again. Lancer put his hands on Rouxl’s cheeks, trying to give him some of his warmth, still very shaky. “It’s not even that cold out, I was fine, I d-didn’t know this would happen…”

“We need to get him to a hospital guys,” the Kneight came down and grabbed one of Rouxl’s arms, trying to lift him up. The Bishook’s face pulsed with a startle and he grabbed his wrist.

“Do not move him quite so carelessly!” he exclaimed with worry. “We do not know what illness has besieged him.”

“He’ll be fine.”

The others looked to the yellow Rudin, who finally slithered closer when the draft went away. He seemed completely calm, leaning down to take a better look.

“Yea he’s just cold,” he said casually, “it happens to us sometimes.”

‘Us’?, the Hathy asked, puzzled. The Rudin tapped a finger to his chest, where his three chambered heart beat.

“Us coldbloods,” he explained simply. “He’s not sick, he’s just hibernating. Get him somewhere warm and he’ll be fine in no time.”

The rest of the group was quite surprised. “Ah, is it truly so simple?” the Bishook asked, but the talking was suddenly interrupted when Lancer jumped to his feet sharply.

“GET HIM TO HIS ROOM! NOW! THAT’S AN ORDER!” His yelling was not even close to as terrifying as the king’s but it was surprisingly forcefull for the child. The servants were a bit shocked at first, but then just quickly scrambled to do what they were told. “GET HIM ALL THE COVERS YOU CAN CARRY! AND NO ONE TELL ON ME!!!”

As Rouxl’s head slowly filled with warmer blood and his heartbeat rekindled to a less sluggish pace, the worm gradually started thawing from his stuporous state. His mind was still confused, remembering only a few snippets of consciousness after he fell victim to the chill - Lancer panicking, the treetops moving by above him, the smell of hay and confusing conversations of multiple voices…

Now it was dark. For a moment he wasn’t sure if his eyes were really open, but they were, surely, for he could blink. Muffled crackling of fire could be heard from somewhere close. It all seemed very familiar but his mind was still not defrosted enough to put it all together. His body, too, was yet too cold to move, his extremities feeling very far away from him. For a few slow minutes he just laid there, absorbing the warmth of his surroundings, slowly coming to his senses.

Only after finally trying to move did he realize he was simply buried in covers and pillows. He could feel the silken sheets of his bed under him, but also multiple other materials covering him. His body sluggishly began to shift around, soon wriggling free of the avalanche of sheets until his head poked out, mismatched eyes squinting around unsurelly.

He was in his room, the flickering of the fireplace dancing around the dark indigo walls and its ostentatious décor. Opposite his bed was his sketching table at which he practiced his calligraphy - a strong slab of dark wood on two rotating wheels, able to tilt to any desired degree, with many thin drawers to hold all his inks, pens and papers. Rouxls had spent endless calm evenings at this very padded chair, perfecting his decorative initials or sketching different kinds of insects, working on his personal little project, his very own entomological encyclopedia. Above his workplace some of his sketches and writing were pinned to the wall, but more importantly, in shiny glass frames, his most prized catches were on display - moths, butterflies and beetles of the most curious shapes and sizes, perfectly preserved, signed, for all to see and marvel at Rouxl’s great hunting skills. Included in his own wall of fame was his first ever bug catching net, a dear old memo of his nymph years.

Rouxl’s eyes blinked hazily over the hung images and cases. How did he get here? He couldn’t seem to recall, not yet anyway. His mind was still a bit slow, since just a few moments ago it was all ready for a few weeks of deep sleep. Rouxls grumbled under his breath at the thought - he had no time for such frivolous fatuity! He couldn’t just abandon his royal responsibilities and let some other idiot steal his place while he was sleeping frozen in some muddy hole. He hadn’t hibernated for a few years now - and despite what his family fear mongered to him about he was doing just fine! ...Well, maybe a bit less resilient to the chill than others of his kind. A Lumbricorus that had properly hibernated most likely wouldn’t have gotten knocked out by the low temperatures as fast as Rouxls did. And yes, the colder months had put him in a slow-minded state a few times before and even made it hard to pay attention to the king’s orders on several awkward occasions which was... unfortunate. Still, he was not going to give in to such an idiotic primal urge, wasting time like the other lowly worms when he could be rising to the top.

His heart was back to a somewhat normal pace and his skin slime revitalized, the constraint of the cover pile becoming rather bothersome. Rouxls had to really put some strength into getting free, eventually managing to wiggle his shoulders out, his arms soon following. He ran a palm through his messy hair, about to get out of bed when the door handle began to rattle. Rouxls, only having his briefs on, raised one of the top sheets over his naked chest despite having no nipples to cover up before the door finally opened.

Lancer came in with a heap of wood in his arms, which explained the trouble he had turning the knob. He didn’t even notice that the duke had awoken as he rushed to the fireplace, almost tripping over the rich rug, and was just about to throw the entire armfull into it when Rouxls spoke up.

“Stop!” he exclaimed, outreaching a warning hand. “You’ll burn mine roome to the grounde!”

Lancer turned around fast, dropping the wood in shock. The logs fell to the floor with dull thuds, one landing on his foot, but the shaken child hardly even noticed. He stared at the disheveled sparkly mess of a head poking from the pile, his face-hole wide.

“I’ve told thee to never kindle the flames withoute supervisión, have I noth?” Rouxls went on, quite oblivious to Lancers shock. “If you wereth to throwe it in with such carelessnesse-”

The young Spade was already leaping towards him before he could even finish the sentence. All Rouxls could do was just open his arms and catch the teenager as he clasped around his neck tightly - too tightly even, Rouxl’s eyes nearly popping out of his head.

“DAD! You’re okay!” he hugged him so hard Rouxls had to pry his arms off not to choke.

“Gah, of courseth I amth!” he sputtered as he held the child’s strong hugging at bay, sitting him down on the sheets out of reach of his neck. Lancer still held onto his hands, not wanting to let go, staring up at him with his tongue poking out. “Thy’re acting as if I wasth aboute to die.”

Lancers look got worried at the notion, rubbing the slender fingers in his chubby hands. “You were so cold...” he protested softly. Rouxls rolled his eyes.

“I can handle a little colde, prince.”

“And you went all limp and blabbery.”

“Well I-”

“Your heart stopped beating!”

“Lancer I amth quite fine!” Rouxls raised his head proudly, freeing one hand from the grasp to throw his messy hair carelessly, then turned back to the Spade with a stern frown. “No thanks to thee mind you! I’ve toldeth thee to get us home but did thee listen to me? No!”

Lancer’s look got very guilty, lowering his gaze. “I know… I’m sorry…” he mumbled sadly. “I didn’t know that could happen. I just wanted to play a little bit and then get home before dad finds anything out.”

At the mention of the king Rouxl’s eyes went a bit wider and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Freezing to death was one thing, but the anger of his king rung a much scarier tone. “Ah, well-um,” he tried to not sound too scared, leaning in with his voice held down, “Did he…?”

Lancer shook his head. “No, he’s in his room, mad about something else. The guards say he’s been there a while now. Not sure why.”

Rouxls subtly exhaled in relief before putting his stern face back on. “Yes, well, next time thy should listeneth welle to thine duke! Would thy hath done as I’ve told thee none of this would hath happeneth! Thy knowe mine intellect to be far superior and my advice to alwaysth ring true, do thy noth?”

Lancer gave a thoughtful hum. Rouxls self confidence diminished with every millisecond it went on - it was not so long ago that the child wouldn’t hesitate to agree with him without even thinking about it.

“I guess,” the teen finally mumbled, but then raised his head and added, “though I’m not sure you have all the answers, small dad.” Rouxl’s brow twitched annoyedly and he tore his hand away to fold his arms over his chest defensively.

“Oh reallyth? Speak thee a single thinge thy know better than thine truly duke Kaard!” Lancer shook his head, leaning back on his hands on the sheets.

“Oh no I didn’t mean it like that. I think you’re way smarter than me, for sure.” Rouxls smiled with satisfaction, but it faded as Lancer went on. “But like, there’s stuff not even you know. All that brainy stuff like the physics and astronomies, or really big math - like what’s the square root of a million?”

The worm rubbed his chin, nodding his head thoughtfully, “The world may nevere knowth, yes...” Then he raised his eyes to the Spade again, a bit suspicious. “What are thee gettinge at?”

Lancer looked away for a moment, his face showing worry and perhaps even guilt. He leaned forward to grab one of Rouxl’s hands in his again, careful not to scratch the delicate blue skin with his tiny black claws. Despite the heap of covers he had the servants carry in from all around the castle his smaller dad still felt very cold to the touch - he unfortunately had no clue that blankets were of no use to a creature that didn’t create nearly enough of its own body heat.

“Are… are you sure you’re okay?” he looked up to the worm. Rouxls would scoff at the senseless worry - he was just fine! But the genuine contrite in Lancer’s face-hole made him reconsider, unsure what to respond, until Lancer spoke again in a mumble. “I was really really afraid that I… that, because of me, you would...” he trailed off, unable to even give a name to his fears.

Rouxls still couldn’t find his words. Even though it was him who nearly succumbed to the frost, he now somehow felt obliged to comfort the child - after all, the thought of losing someone as great as Rouxls Kaard would weigh heavily on any shoulders, no matter how big or small. But for a while he couldn’t figure out a way to lift the burdening guilt - after all, it  _ was  _ Lancer’s infantile disobedience that caused it all. For a moment he pondered his sparkly head before coming up with a most genius idea.

“Perhaps,” he spoke softly, lifting Lancers chin with a finger, “a warme cup of tea wouldth make thine duke feel better?” His smile was gentle, assuring the kid he wasn’t mad at him.

Lancer smiled, quickly rubbing at his face with his free hand to shush away the tears. “Okay,” he nodded, “let me make you some.” He slipped from the bed on his feet, turning back around and gently pulling another cover over his lesser dad. “I’ll make you the biggest hottest cup, okay?”

“Splendide idea, prince,” Rouxls nodded agreeingly, “thy knowe which I liketh best, yes?”

“Of course!” the Spade exclaimed, obviously glad to be helpful. “I’ll be back before you know it!” With that he quickly rushed out of the door, closing it behind himself so the warmth would keep inside.

Now left alone Rouxls gave a long exhale. He uncovered himself from the sheet avalanche, letting his cold feet down on the carpet, for a moment just sitting at the edge of his bed in nothing but his silken boxers. The fireplace crackled, its fire quite big, the logs that Lancer dropped still scattered all around. The room was toasty, but Rouxls was still much below his normal temperature. He didn’t feel very cold though, his body was still adjusted to being nearly frozen outside, so the warm air of his room rushing over his naked skin felt balmy indeed.

His eyes landed on his clothes, messily thrown over the backrest of his dark blue armchair. They were still wet, even dripping on the rich dark carpet of his room. He frowned and got up to hang the garments properly, luckily all of his clothes was made with his moist skin in mind so the wet snow wouldn’t hurt it too much, but it could dry into an undesired shape. He spent a moment spreading his ensemble over his coffee table and the fireplace mantel, wondering if maybe he forgave the prince a bit too soon.

Just as he thought about how to make Lancer learn something valuable from this whole ordeal, the door clicked open behind him. Rouxls spoke before he even turned around, still fixing a sleeve on his coat.

“Here thy are,” he muttered, “I wasth just thinkinge of thee Lll-”

Rouxls eyes went wide as he turned around, tongue stuck on the last letter. “Lord. My lord. Goode evening!”

The king stood in the door, clothed in nothing but his glossy black evening gown. He stared at the duke with a hard look that was somewhat difficult to categorize... Was he angry? Perhaps. It was hard to say on a face that was always scrunched up into a grumpy frown, not to mention the lack of eyes. Rouxls gulped, despite his masterful save there he felt he was in trouble, but couldn’t even guess what for. His eyes dropped down, over his half naked form, before he looked back up with an apologetic smile.

“Ah, mine apologies,” he bowed his head slightly as he ran a hand over the white tuft of chest hair. “I amth somewhat underdresseth, thy see I-” He stopped when the king shut the door behind him hard, then approached in deliberate heavy steps.

“Shut up,” he growled, towering over Rouxls easily, close enough for the cold worm to feel the nearly smoltering breath from both his mouths. His sharp buck teeth gleamed into his face threateningly, although in some slightly different manner than usual.

Still, the duke felt very threatened. Did the king find out about their little winter play? Or was he furious due to some other unknown reason? Sometimes it took very little to anger him, when he was feeling moody or just hasn’t slept well - and when he just wanted to mess with Rouxls, he could always find a reason.

The worm blinked rapidly in fear, trying to keep his smile as some form of last defense against the king’s rage, slowly backing off without even realizing it. In his overthinking he didn’t even notice the king’s non-existent eyes sliding down his nearly naked body, his hot breath escaping from his abdominal mouth in long growls, the glossy gown swaying over it.

The duke’s mind raced, but there wasn’t much he could do at this moment. He wanted to apologize, suck up, but since he didn’t know exactly what was it that the king was mad about he didn’t want to just throw more fuel in the fire by accident.

Suddenly he felt the wall against his back, gasping slightly. His eyes were fixed into the dark spade shaped hole as the larger Darkner approached, in slow heavy steps, sight fixed on Rouxls, like a predator stares down its future meal. He loomed over him closely, his breath blowing the sparkly hair around.

“Serve me, duke,” he growled with both mouths in a low, guttural sound. Rouxl’s smile widened anxiously but obediently, hands raised in fear, cold sweat dripping down his tall forehead.

“Of courseth, anythinge thee wish thine duke to-”

“Touch me,  _ now _ .”

Oh. Rouxl’s lukewarm blood rushed to his face, in surprise, anxiety, abashment,  _ excitement. _ The king’s order sunk into his ear holes, suddenly realizing all the little things he missed before - the heavy breath from both fronts, the bluish tint in his face, just how very close the king was. His cold body immediately adjusted to the situation, arousing without changing in temperature, the larger man looming over him so hungrily more exciting than the duke would admit. For a moment he just stood there, speechless at the directness the king approached the matter with, unsure of exactly what to do, how much to do, and  _ how _ to do it considering he was colder than an early risen lizard.

“That’s an  _ order, _ duke.” King Spade’s voice was low and gravelly, very threatening, his sharp snarl gleaming in the light of the fireplace. The duke finally woke from his shock, smile getting apologetical.

“Ah, well, thy see sir,” he raised his hands to his chest defensively again, “I wouldth advise thee to reconsidere such actions, for I amth-”

He shrieked in fear when the kings large hands landed on the wall at the sides of his head. The threatening gesture was done with so much force the wallpaper nearly went with it.

“Are you defying me?” the Spade snarled dangerously. Rouxls eyes went even wider, heart pumping in fright.

“No sir of course I-!”

“I gave you a direct order duke.”

“Yes I simply-!”

“You will do what I say!” the king suddenly roared right into his face, claws digging into the wallpaper. “If I say ‘jump’ you merely ask ‘how high?’, when I order you to grovel at my feet you don’t ask questions!” He roughly grabbed both Rouxl’s wrists in his huge strong hands, the worm only whimpering in fear. “You  _ take _ whatever I give you and you  _ give _ whatever I ask of you. You’re mine to order duke and as long as you live you belong to  _ me. _ ” He forced his hands low, under his gown. “So when I give you an order you-”

His heated preaching was quickly stopped with a less than dignified yelp. The king nearly jumped away, holding onto his crotch with both hands - Kaard’s hands felt positively icy, especially on the engorged seath.

Rouxls stood there, absolutely mortified, sure the king was going to kill him - but it wasn’t his fault! He tried to warn him! His mind tried desperately to weave some sort of apology or explanation - but he knew reason would hardly stand against the Spade’s irrational anger.

Luckily for him, the king’s horny rage greatly subsided with the cold shock he just got to the most sensitive bit - and also the source of said fury. The painful surprise completely threw him off his intimidation tangent and he looked to the duke completely dumbstruck, facehole wide, hands still clasped over his crotch.

“Why the hell are you so cold!?” he shrieked, his voice higher than he intended. Rouxls managed to force a shaky apologetic smile.

“I’m s-so sorryth sir, I tried to tell thee, it ist the ride outside we tooketh with Lancer.” He rubbed his hands anxiously. “Mine kind isth quite suck-sceptiple to low temperatures…” He gulped, lowering his head. “I amth ever so sorry I was noth able to warn thee in time.”

The king stood there, still a bit ruffled, subtly rubbing his crotch through his clothes. For a moment he just stared at him with a hurt and surprised frown, unsure what to do, or what to even think. He half turned away, giving a long exhale through his scowl. He wanted to be mad at the duke but, well, he did try to warn him. As much as the king would’ve liked to throw the blame on the duke, he couldn’t deny that this one was on him…

He turned his back to Kaard, now just feeling awkward - how very ridiculous his pain must’ve looked…

Rouxls just looked to him anxiously, still fearful, but hopeful, and secretly also a bit amused. The king no longer looked as terrifying, or even enraged. It looked more like he was trying to find a way out of the silly situation. Perhaps now would be a good time to use his charms? He’d have to warm up to match the king’s temperature though. Maybe if-

The door knob suddenly rattled a second time, both Darkners turning to it anxiously. Before either could do anything Lancer opened the door.

“Here’s your tea dad!” he exclaimed excitedly as he waltzed inside, “with no sugar this time, I pro-... mise…?”

He stopped in shock at the sight of his bigger father in the room. The same worry that his and the duke’s snow playtime were found out struck him, rendering him speechless, just holding the huge hot mug in his silly bunny shaped kitchen mittens, mouth open.

For a moment it was silent, as neither of them knew what to say. Finally, the king cleared his throat and came towards Lancer as casually as he could.

“Yes, thank you son,” he grumbled, taking the mug, his black claws clicking quietly against the white ceramic surface. Lancer handed it over freely, just staring up at him anxiously.

“Uh, that’s not-”

“Have you finished all your homework for the week?” King Spade asked sternly. Lancer lowered his gaze, rubbing the back of his neck with the bunny mitten.

“Ah, well, not yet, it’s not due till Monday so I-” The king took him by the shoulder, gently but uncompromisingly turning him around and pushing him out the door.

“Then go, finish it up.” Lancer didn’t dare push against the strict gesture but still had enough courage to at least speak up.

“But I-”

“Lancer,” the king spoke with a warning tone, immediately shushing him up. Lancer lowered his gaze obediently. “Be a good boy and do what your father says.” His son didn’t respond, and didn’t even get the chance to, as King Spade shut the door behind him.

Rouxl’s just watched the whole scene unfold, not daring to even speak, just glad the king’s strict orders weren’t directed at him for once. When the door closed and the king turned back to the duke he found him still standing by the wall, just in his briefs, mismatched eyes fixed onto him fearfully. The monarch sighed a bit to himself, then raised the ornate mug to his upper mouth but didn’t sip, instead pulling it away, puzzled.

“This thing is boiling hot,” he muttered. Rouxls didn’t know what to say so he kept silent, just rubbing his slimy hands together anxiously. King Spade walked over to the bed and slowly sat down into the dozens of sheets, placing the hot mug on the bedside table. He looked over the avalanche of covers with a puzzled look, then back up to the duke, frowning in thought.

“What is the meaning of these?” he asked. His voice was somewhat calm, which relaxed Rouxls enough to finally move from his spot.

“Ah,” he nodded his head, stepping forth. “No reason, reallyth, just thath thine prince thought it goode for mine, eh, cold situatión.” The king placed a hand on the sheets - they were also cold, even in the crease where Rouxls clearly laid a while ago. The worm’s strange biology continued to puzzle him.

Rouxls dared to approach, his gaze fixed on the large Darkner contemplatively looking over his bed. The fear from before mostly subsided by now - there was no reason to be afraid after all. He thought the king to be angry with him for disobeying and letting Lancer have fun outside, but now he knew the real reason of his somewhat fierce insistence...

Of course, how could the poor Spade help himself. Rouxls was far too gorgeous and charming to not be obsessed over. The duke knew that this whole time the king was simply tormented with his tantalizing desire - only to be denied by such a cruel twist of fate once he finally decided to make his move.

But a memory of a different tone suddenly rang in his head, lifting from the bottom like mud in a murky pond. He thought much of the same once before, after their last intimate encounter - only for the king to push him away. He spent many nights wondering what it was that he did wrong there - they both clearly enjoyed each others company.

Was it possible Rouxls was… not as charming as he thought himself to be?

The sharp edge of self doubt pricked his ego - it was however way too tiny in comparison to it. No, Rouxls thought. What ridiculous nonsense. The fault was not his, it couldn’t be! It was the Spade who couldn’t make up his mind for whatever silly reason, likely himself confused in his own passionate feelings. Or perhaps it was shyness, or even worry that he wouldn’t be able to match the grace and skill of the duke. But Kaard was a good lover, gentle and attentive. All the king needed was a nice little show of how much joy, comfort and pleasure the duke was able to give him, if only he stopped resisting.

With a benevolent smile the duke sat beside the Spade, swinging one leg over the other and putting his hands on his upper knee elegantly. His eyelashes fluttered, his look most suave. The king looked back at him with an unamused grumpy stare, already sick of the duke’s whole act, but Rouxls didn’t notice through his own charms.

“Oh sir,” the worm said softly, “had I knownth thee woulde show up liketh so, I would hath dresseth up for the occasión.” He gently brushed the sparkly hair from his face, his hand remaining at the side of his head, pinkie held up elegantly. The king exhaled through his face-hole annoyedly but Rouxls was too preoccupied with being sensuous to even notice. “How unfortunate, that we foundth ourselves in suche-”

“For the love of  _ fuck, _ shut up Kaard,” the king growled dangerously, rubbing a hand over the edges of his closed facehole like one would rub their eyes. The duke pulled back immediately, flabbergasted that his grace fell on deaf ears, the murk of doubt once again raising. “I didn’t come here to listen to your slimy mating calls,” he turned to the duke with a tired, annoyed look, lip raising to show a gleaming canine.

Rouxls averted his nervous stare, his smile stiff on his sweating face. “Ah, uh, I just thoughth-”

“You said your kind gets cold to the touch easily,” the king interrupted him, his voice level and to the point. “Is there a way to warm you back up?”

Rouxls gulped, then nodded anxiously. “W-well of course sir, as I hath explaineth, us Lumbricorus, that isth what my kinde is namedeth should thy wondere, we art much suspe-, susceb-, we art sustep-” The king growled impatiently at which Rouxls panicked a bit. “We taketh on the temperature around us easily, sir!” He laughed nervously. “Hahah! Ah, yes, both cold and hoth, so-”

“What would get you warmed up the quickest?” The king was clearly rather impatient by now, leaning a bit closer, his fingers tapping on his knee. Rouxls blinked anxiously, rubbing his cold hands together. His face glowed a bit more, slimy sweat dripping down his chin.

“Ah… well…” His mismatched eyes couldn’t help but slide over the large body next to him. The king was oh so… plentiful. His body was mostly the boulder-like bulk of hard muscle, but there was also the much more agreeable softer chunk that, despite the lack of slime, somehow enticed the duke. Rouxls shyly peeked through the parted dark gown, King Spade’s thighs seemed strong enough to crush even the hardest chitin shell he could imagine. For a moment all of his precise seduction planning went to the side.

“Perhapse…” his smile squirmed a bit on his face, “if thy… held me… o-or-” His cheeks burned as he raised his eyes to the king, hopefully. “-laid thineself over me…?” His face was positively glowing now, his hands rubbing together anxiously, partially with the memory of the king smushing him in his enormous arms, but it wasn’t just that. Among his kind, sharing body heat was considered a very intimate, romantic gesture, sacrificing one’s warmth for another. Unexpectedly even to him, the idea of the king and him in that position flustered him more than the idea of actual sex.

King Spade, however, immediately scoffed at the notion. “What? Do you know how cold you feel?!” The fresh memory of the icy touch made him cringe, inadvertently closing his legs, pulling away with a growl. “I won’t touch you until you stop feeling like a corpse.”

Rouxls didn’t even expect how deeply the harsh rejection would cut. He averted his eyes with both anxiety and shame for how excited he just got. “Ah, y-yes of course, howe idiotic of me…” He swallowed, forcing another smile, tough with some difficulty. “Well, I supposeth I may warme mineself by the fireplace; ten, twenty minutes maybeth…”

The king looked to the burning fire, then back to Kaard, trying to hide his restlessness before the duke. His body had recovered from the cold shock a while ago and was back to feeling needy - so much so that he had to part his legs again as to not squish down on his own engorged sheath. He had already waited so long before finally deciding to give the duke a visit and demand what was rightfully his - the thought of yet more waiting was rather unbearable. He grumbled, hands squeezing on his knees, upper lip twitching in impatient thought.

His arm shot up when he caught a glimpse of the duke getting up from the bed, squeezing around his upper arm before he even thought it though fully. Rouxls jumped a bit at the sudden grab, but obediently sat back down as the large hand directed him, facing the king once more. The Spade seemed irked but reconciled, giving a defeated sigh. His hand slid down the much thinner blue arm, then squeezed around the wrist and brought it closer - the slimy skin still felt very cold to the touch, but perhaps a bit less icy after all. His fingers shifted, putting his palm under the back of the slender hand, then bringing it to his mouth.

Rouxls was instantly back to full flustered mode when he felt the incredibly hot breath envelop his hand. His slimy smile spread over his face, twitching shyly, blood rushing through his chest, up the back of his neck, into his face and around his ear-holes. His cheeks burned, surprised and incredibly flustered from the romantic gesture he was just given - even despite how harshly the king told him off just moments ago.

The king hardly noticed. He pulled back, wrapping his fingers around the smaller palm to check if it was any warmer - it was, sorta. Without even looking away he repeated the gesture, using his other hand too. His lips brushed lightly against the smooth skin with another breath, before he pulled away, checking again.

The duke was right, it really didn’t take much to warm him up. Soon enough he’ll be ready for their first round. The king was very preoccupied thinking of all he wanted to do with Rouxls - the memory of the tight slimy warmth around his dick hadn’t left him at all, just the thought made the spade shaped tip of his appendage peek from his sheath, blood rushing to his face. Preoccupied with all that, he simply grabbed for Rouxl’s other hand and repeated the same warming maneuver - but it was at that moment that the level of flusteredness of the duke finally caught his attention with a startling, lewd, longing moan.

“ _ Oooh,  _ oh  _ sir _ ~”

It caught him off guard, his face-hole lifting to look at the equally blue face of the other Darkner. Rouxl’s cheeks were bright blue, eyes closed in bliss, biting his lip lightly. It seemed the king wasn’t the only one thinking indecent thoughts. Seeing him like that, all aroused and... gosh, it was somehow… 

He averted his gaze with a grunt. What stupid thoughts. He cared  _ not _ what the worm was expecting from this - this was meant to please him, not this blue idiot. Although, well… it wasn’t... as if the duke enjoying this was somehow impairing him…? Yes, he didn’t care if the worm were to enjoy what he had in stock, but he didn’t care if he did not, either. No, he just wanted to stuff his dick into something warm and tight, be it the duke’s throat, his clasped hands or his rear end. What Kaard thought of it was secondary.

Humming dismissively he leaned his face back down to warm those palms up.

Rouxls mind was quite away from sex right now. He was still surprised by receiving such gentle, loving gestures from the king - a worm only gave such tokens of courtship to a most loved and appreciated companion. This finally proved it all. The king’s rough exterior was a tough wall to climb but Rouxls knew that no matter how many times he was shushed and shooed away, the king’s infatuation with him has always been there. The poor monarch couldn’t help it! Rouxls knew that with each attentive gesture of affection he returned it would get harder and harder for the Spade to put up the cold facade, until eventually, he’ll have him right in his palm, begging for his loving attention, completely at his whim, able to get anything he wanted from those big strong arms… oh, yea, and also control the kingdom and such through his devoted puppet, obviously.

King Spade stopped for a moment. Rouxl’s hands were warmer with every hot breath the king blew over them, but so were his own hands, limiting their own temperature checking ability. He didn’t especially want another cold touch to his boner so he wanted to make absolutely sure the duke was all set. He pulled away, looking over the slender hands, then without even thinking too hard about it pressed one to his cheek.

Rouxl’s eyes went slightly wide. By the Great Graceful Worm, the king really was starved for affection. Feeling the warm chubby cheek under his palm, the gesture so longing, pleading... he almost felt sorry for the king. His look softened, his fingers curling around the large face. His other hand lifted as well, gently grasping the other cheek, making the king face him. Rouxls was a generous and kind lover. Such a call for tenderness would not go unanswered.

Kaard’s hands were warm enough alright, the king thought, before he suddenly felt a gentle touch on his other cheek. He frowned in thought, what was this about now? - but the answer came shortly after, with the duke’s face once again leaning in, eyes closed sensually and his light blue lips puckered expectantly.

Rouxl’s face was suddenly tightly held in the king’s huge hand, his cheeks squeezed together uncomfortably into a silly grimace. His eyes went wide in surprise, looking to the king, who gave back an unamused frown. The Spade raised his lip in a low threatening growl, pulling the duke closer to whisper.

“I cannot believe I have to spell this out for you duke,” he snarled dangerously. Kaard tried to pull away but his face was held firmly. “If you ever try to leech your lips onto mine again, I swear on my crown...” He bared his fangs right before the worm’s eyes. “ _ I’ll rip your face off with my bare teeth.” _

A fearful shiver went down Rouxls back, sweating profusely at the threat. The king pulled back, exhaling sharply through his face-hole before speaking again. “Do you understand me well enough, duke?” Still held firmly, the duke did his best to nod. “Good.”

Rouxls was thrown back quite hard before he could even gather his thoughts properly. He fell into the sheets, putting a hand over his mouth, his cheeks still a bit sore from the rough squeezing. He was so confused - the king was giving him so many mixed signals! Despite the terrifying display, Rouxls wasn’t as much fearful as he was annoyed with his constant switching - one second he was all over him with burning passion, the next asking so dearly to be treated with care and love, then suddenly growling and barking like a dog. Was this a Spade thing? Who even had the time to figure these damn dry people out!

He lifted his eyes when he saw the much larger Darkner approaching, getting his knees up on the bed to shift closer. Rouxls raised up on his elbows, giving the king a look of bewildered confusion and annoyance, but before he could say half a word he was pushed back down on his back with one large palm on his chest. It startled him, rather more forceful than before, even knocking the breath out of him a bit. The Spade kneeled above him high with a stern look, undoing the simple belt of his gown and throwing it aside. His abdominal mouth growled from the now fully open silks, the strange bulbous black organ nearly fully unsheathed. Rouxl’s face glowed blue at the sight of the king above him so exposed, letting him see more than ever before. Something felt quite different about all this, quite more direct and to the point.

King Spade stared down at the duke, obediently laying under him, finally quiet for once. Hopefully he’d remain that way. He was tired of having to consider Rouxl’s feelings and opinions, this ““relationship”” had been more trouble than it's worth, all because he kept hesitating to push the worm too far. Enough of that. He shouldn’t care. He  _ didn’t _ care. Rouxl’s was the one bringing up this whole ordeal, he knew what he signed up for. The king was simply accepting his own suggestion.

Rouxl’s watched curiously as the king reached down into the pile of blankets, picking a larger cover and swinging it around his back. At first he wasn’t sure what this was about, until the Spade leaned forth and over the worm, covering them both under the sheet. Rouxl’s smile forced it’s way onto his face despite his efforts, but much to his dismay the king did not lay over him, pressing that large warm body heavily down onto his like he wished he would. Instead he stayed up on his knees and hands, above the blue body, looking down onto Rouxl’s hairy chest as his larger mouth licked at its lip in some kind of preparation. What was he up to?

The answer came in an incredibly large hot gust of breath from the Spade’s abdominal mouth. Rouxl’s back arched slightly - oh, this was very good, the warmth and humidity of the Spade’s breath held under the sheet, enveloping him like a lovers embrace. The king inhaled through his upper mouth, then breathed down on Rouxl’s again, just as warm, making the worm squirm slightly in bliss.

The duke couldn’t help but moan comfortably, lifting his dreamy eyes under his sparkly white lashes to look up at the Spade. The rough rejection from moments left his mind again, once more turning to the conclusion that the king loved him dearly - although, admittedly, he wasn’t as sure of this as before. Something about the repeated harsh rejections and such…

Right now he didn’t dwell on it. Soon, all he could think about was the rapid increase in his body temperature - his blood rushed to his face and crotch, the parts of his body where his slimy skin was thinner than elsewhere turning bright blue. Gosh did this feel nice. He wanted more. He wanted the huge hot body pressed down onto his, filling his hug-hungry arms and legs, smothering him into the mattress.

King Spade’s patience was running very thin now, but the fear of another cold collision kept him more careful still. He wanted to make absolutely sure that the duke would be pleasant to the touch before he actually touched him. Still, his own body was so heated and ready and impatient, staring down at the shivering blue worm hungrily. Biting down on his lip, his seath pushed open by the second knot of his member, the large black organ twitching in anticipation. He’ll have to move this along before he goes insane. First he’ll check how warm he’s gotten the worm...

Rouxls’s back arched when the king suddenly ran both his hands down his body, from his chest to his hips. The large palms didn’t feel as hot as before, perhaps he had put on a similar temperature by now. Still, finally being touched after such a long buildup felt very nice. Rouxls didn’t hold back his pleased moans and gasps, his eyes closed in bliss as the hands ran back up to his neck. They opened again in a startle when two of the huge fingers suddenly plunged into his mouth, the sharp claws almost bruising his lip, but he quickly gave in, gently brushing his tongue against them. He felt the king’s other hand grab onto his thigh and lift it up, and he nearly bit down on the digits in his mouth when the other hand dove into his crotch, fingers slipping up and down over the pulsating lips.

He moaned through the fingers in his mouth before lifting his hands up to grab onto the hand and pull is away for just a moment. “Ooh, sir,” he moaned blissfully, pressing the large hand to his cheek and kissing the pinkie finger. “Thy’re so goode to me~” King Spade just growled something under his breath.

The blue idiot was nowhere near as icy as before, but the Spade decided for a few more licks for good measure. His hand rested on the slimy thigh, his abdominal mouth shifting closer before his larger tongue slithered through his lips. Rouxl’s back arched and he moaned softly when the flexible blue mass slid over his belly. King Spade continued reaching lower, all the way to the anxiously awaited tight orifice, then dragged it back up over the strange genital slit and to the worm’s lower chest ring. His own sweat and precum dripped down his dick, getting ready to plunge it into the worm’s bum any second now, whether he was ready for it or not, he couldn’t wait another second.

At that same time, Rouxl’s eyes drifted down to stare at the large tongue running over his most sensitive parts. It felt heavenly, but despite the intense pleasure this gave him, something felt a-miss… The king wasn’t matching his pleased moans and purrs, instead growling and snarling impatiently. He looked up to his monarch questioningly, then down low, his hazy eyes somehow managing to catch a glimpse of the engorged double-knotted black member, quivering behind the broad blue tongue. Rouxls was suddenly overwhelmed with a different feeling than before. He looked up at King Spade, noticing the intense anticipation in his face. He was being given so much from his king. It was only fair he returned the favor.

“Allow thine deareste, mine pet~”

King Spade realized a second too late that the noise that barely got to him through his own growls were words, from the duke no less. Before he could threaten to rip his head off his shoulders should he keep him waiting one more second, the worm hooked his legs around his waist and with surprising strength pulled his hips up, his spread open crotch straight to his dick. The strange muscular lips of his wavy gash clamped around his member like a venus flytrap, and before he could even catch his gasping breath the duke began to move his hips with surprising vigor, sliding the slimy slit up and down his length.

The bedsheet tore as the Spade’s huge black claws dug into it. His face hole went wide at the sudden feeling and so did his gasping mouth, for a second he couldn't even catch his breath, the overwhelming softness of Rouxl’s crotch running up his aching member catching him completely off guard. It made him forget all about his intended plan with the duke, his hips stiff in blissful shock for a second.

Rouxl’s face bore a wide pleased smile, looking down as his handiwork. He continued moving his hips, gently flexing his viscidum around the other’s organ, the thought of how much the king was enjoying this making his head spin. If only the stubborn Spade let him at it before, gave him some space, he could’ve-

He yelped in surprise when the larger body suddenly came down onto his without warning. The enormous bulk squashed him down into the bed, his head pressed under his pecks on its side, barely allowing him to breathe. King Spade held the worm pinned down with his weight as he began to roughly hump the ever-living crap out of the smaller Darkner, overcame with his own needs, not even caring how he’d get off anymore.

Rouxl’s couldn’t really do anything but take it, he couldn’t draw in enough breath to speak through the pressure and his own moaning, and even if he could he would hardly bring up any arguments. Although his plans were once again soiled he did not mind - this felt amazing, the pressure and friction, perhaps a bit - or, well - a lot more rough than he imagined it. King Spade growled and panted, madly jerking his hips, driving the bumpy member over Rouxl’s crotch again and again. It didn’t take the duke too long, but his own climax was nearly unnoticeable under the maddened Spade. His limbs shivered, skin covered with sweat and slime, whimpering weakly, eyes rolling back.

But King Spade went on, rough as ever. His hard breathing filled with frustrated growls, completely oblivious to the worm whimpering under him. He continued to try and get himself off, but his own hard pace soon tired him out. This just wasn’t enough. His body sunk even harder down, his pace slowly dying down, until he was just a panting sweaty mess, with the duke downright buried under. For a few moments he just laid there, frustrated and out of breath, before his head finally cleared enough to notice the hands pleadingly beating against his sides. With an annoyed growl he lifted himself up on his arms.

Rouxls gasped for breath sharply, eyes wide, nearly having been suffocated, then just fell back with a wide smile, chest shaky and legs twitchy. His body was completely covered with sweat and slime, as was the king’s front. King Spade growled annoyedly, still out of breath, looking down at the mess he made of the duke, and himself. He didn’t even care anymore.

“Oh, sir, that, oh, ah, that was…” Rouxls closed his eyes and tried to catch his breath, but could hardly do so. “Delight... ful, oh…” It didn’t seem like the king was too interested anyway. Rouxl’s lifted his head weakly when he felt his legs being grabbed, a second later they were roughly lifted up and pressed to his chest. He watched curiously, and a bit worriedly, as King Spade loomed over him again, but the different position spelled trouble.

Rouxls grimaced in a flinch when the king’s abdominal tongue roughly and without hesitation went for his rear end. It’s tip pressed against the tight entrance and without much regards began snaking its way in. Rouxls bit down on his lip - damn, why does it always have to come down to this?! He was well on his way to help the king reach heaven, it was the Spade’s brutish impatience that screwed it all up, not him! Maybe he can still salvage this.

“Oh deare-” he panted, trying to ignore the rough prodding, “sir, perhapse I- OOH!” His head threw back in shock as the large tongue suddenly overcame the entrance and slid in a good few inches in less than a second. Oh wow that felt ten kinds of strange! Before he could gather his thoughts again the king threw him down on his back with an even rougher push. “OH! SIR, OH, GENTLE PRITHEE!” 

“Shut up,” King Spade growled, pulling his tongue out just to drive it back in, holding onto his calves tightly to prevent him from squirming too much. Now if only he could also stop his endless stream of idiotic blabbering, that’d be just perfect.

Helplessly held down, the duke was realizing by now how little say he had in this. He would really prefer different kinds of intercourse, but it seemed the Spade had some kind of strange fascination with holes, gah! Well, there was no use protesting now, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad...?

He winced as King Spade pulled his tongue out of him in a rough swoop, shifting on his knees to get into better position. His mismatched eyes watched with worry as the spade shaped tip of his enormous member rested against his light blue rear. It looked utterly ridiculous! Well, at least he wouldn’t try to push it all in like he did with his mouth, that would be absurd.

He bit down not to get too loud as he felt it press in. The Spade didn’t go as slow as last time, way less careful, way more impatient. Both of them moaned when the flared tip made it past the ring of muscle, Rouxls considerably higher and more pitiful.

King Spade’s mouth slowly curled into a small smile, that kept widening the more of himself he pressed in. This was way better than the fruitless humping. Rouxls was deliciously tight and warm, but plenty moist and slippery not to cause any discomfort, at least to him. He couldn’t care less what the worm thought of it right now. All he could think about was the highly anticipated feeling of finally getting to really knot someone.

The large member drove in and up until the first bulb. Rouxls whimpered when he felt it press against him some more, his entrance quivering against the hot round mass, but soon it eased and the appendage slid back out. Rouxls whined some more, feeling the bumpy flare pop out, before pressing right back in, now easily overcoming the tight ring and sliding back in all the way to the first knot again. This repeated a couple times, each making Rouxls marginally more accustomed to the odd feeling of being filled… it didn’t feel too bad, just a bit uncomfortable, weird-y and rather worrisome, considering the previous burst of lustfull madness that overcame the Spade.

After a few slower full length pumps, King Spade began to thrust faster, with more force and intensity. Rouxls tried his best to just lay back and relax as much as he could, but he couldn’t help but tense up every now and then, especially when the pace or direction changed in even the slightest way. Hopefully this wouldn’t take too long.

His teeth gritted when he felt the member pushed in harder, all the way, and the first knot once again pressed against him, harder than before. For a moment he expected it to pull back again, but it just kept getting stronger, until it felt quite painful. His eyes shot open to stare up at the king in shock.

“S-sir! Easeth up! Thy c-cannot-H-AAH!” His back arched, the knot nearly pushing its way in at that very moment. It was insane to think that could fit!

With a dissatisfied growl, the king eased up again. Rouxls was breathing fast, confused and plenty worried, but before he could ask what the hell that was about the member suddenly slid right out, making him yelp loudly.

King Spade pulled away, leaving Rouxls to roll onto his side, grabbing onto his rear end in discomfort. The sight was quite humorous to him, but he didn’t feel like smiling right now. Kaard was still too tight to properly take him. Hmm… maybe a change of position would do better.

Rouxls lifted his head with worry as he felt the mattress shift. His king slipped off the bed, kneeling down on the floor beside it before turning back to him. He wondered what this was about before suddenly the large white hands grabbed onto his legs and roughly swooped him to the edge of the bed. The duke couldn’t do much as he was manhandled into position, laying on his belly with his legs on the ground, his poor behind facing the king helplessly, completely vulnerable. He turned his head with a pitiful look, whining at the sight of the much larger Darkner grabbing onto his butt with a wicked grin. The strong thumbs reached into the crack and spread his cheeks, ignoring his sorry whimpers.

“There,” the Spade growled as he shifted into position, “much better…”

Rouxls knew what was coming, but still couldn’t hold back a yelping moan when the large member sunk right into his rear. It was really quite rough, pushing in as much as it could, but still unable to fit the first knot in. King Spade growled under his breath and Rouxls wondered for a second what this’ll mean before suddenly his hips were grabbed in a vice like grip.

Despite not being able to fit himself in as much as he wanted, King Spade began to thrust, pretty roughly and without regard to Rouxl’s pitiful moaning. The worm’s soft insides felt really nice and tight, at least on the first third of his dick, but he wasn’t about to give up on the rest.

Rouxls gritted his fists, trying to brace himself, but the size and the pace was too much for him to handle without constantly yelping and twitching. He could feel the warm slime from his crotch drip down his thighs - in some weird way this felt great but it was still overshadowed by all the other feelings, the pressure of the king’s insane girth and his heedless tempo. 

This went on for a while, his hips held tightly in the king’s hands, the black claws pressed to his skin, even piercing it ever so slightly. He was being slammed into over and over, but then his eyes went wide when he felt the king once again press against him harder, trying to get in deeper, against all common fucking sense.

“S-SIR! O-OOAH’CAN’T- NOT- OH!” He exhaled sharply when the pressure eased up again, laying his face down in the sheets, quivering.

Suddenly, the hold around his hips got tighter and before he knew it he was being lifted up. The sudden change of position jostled the member inside him, pressing it against this wall and that spot, making Rouxls lose all his breath with the overwhelming feelings, an unexpected warm gush of slime rushing down his thighs. He could barely protest through his climax, moaning and wincing, and before he knew it the king had changed their position completely.

King Spade, now sitting at the edge of the bed with the duke in his lap, grinned widely as he lifted the smaller man’s trembling thighs up and against his segmented chest. He looked down to see the shaken worm in all his distressedness, whimpering and staring down at the huge member half buried in his rear, his recent release dripping down onto the two knots. The Spade chuckled, manhandling the worm some more until he held him under his knees in a tight grip.

Rouxls eyes went wide when the Spade, holding him with both arms tightly against his chest, drove his hips up into him. A loud moan erupted from his throat but the king didn’t even give him a second and began to roughly fuck him, growling in pleasure, holding him in a near deathgrip. That and Rouxls’s own weight was pushing him down against the hungrily thrusting member, increasing the pressure, the pace, all of it. Rouxls could barely catch his breath enough to speak, but even when he did he couldn't form a coherent plea no matter how much he tried.

King Spade growled and huffed in pleasure, pressing his cheek to the side of Rouxls face, his tongue hanging from his wide smile. He messily dragged it over the duke, from his jaw to his earhole, then lifted him up in his arms just enough to bite him. Even in his lustful madness he knew not to get carried away here - his teeth could have easily pierced his windpipe. His sharp buck teeth poked into the delicate blue skin where his neck met his shoulder, not too hard, just enough to draw a few beads of blood to lick away. 

Rouxl’s didn’t even notice much. The first knot pressed hard against his entrance with each bounce, the ring of muscles getting more and more loose with each thrust. It took but a few minutes till the hard pace matched up the easing tightness and the king finally got what he so desired.

Rouxls half yelled - half drew in a sharp pained breath, his eyes watering at the sudden jolt of pain. For a moment he couldn’t even fathom what just happened, unable to breathe, the concoction of sensations so overwhelming.

It got in.

King Spade growled and panted sharply, his hips twitching, whole body shaking with euphoria. It was absolute bliss. Both his mouths were frozen with ecstatic smiles, tongues out, facehole staring into the ceiling. For a moment he just shook, then began twitching, his hips shooting up a few more times. He put his chin down on top of Kaard’s head, drooling into his hair without even knowing it.

Rouxls was still frozen, overwhelmed with shock and the sharp sting of pain and the indescribable feeling of being filled. For a moment he couldn’t even fathom it all, until another, new sensation, finally reached his woozy head. He groaned softly, weakly, eyes slowly looking down. His own crotch was twitching with confusing climax, his rear spread around the massive girth between the two knots. But what felt the strangest of all, his abdomen was bulging. Just slightly, just enough to be noticed, raising ever so slightly with each pump of the king’s release he felt spurting into him. He watched in utter shock, mind boggled with it all. This concoction of sensations, pressure and fullness, pain and bliss, it all felt just absurd.

King Spade was still high with bliss, his body slowly going weaker, until he couldn’t hold on anymore, slowly falling back. He let go of the duke, hands falling weakly as his sides, throwing his head back with a wide euphoric smile, knocked out from it all.

The toasty room fell silent…

Rouxls slowly came back to his senses, laying on his back on top of the king’s raising chest. His wet eyes slowly opened to stare up into the ceiling, breath shallow, still completely out of it. It took him a good long while before he finally felt the rest of his body, shakily lifting a hand to his forehead.

That was… ludicrous. What even just happened? He wouldn’t believe it if it wasn’t for the dick still firmly stuck up his…

Rouxls raised his head in shock. King Spade hasn’t pulled out. The duke blinked in utter disbelief, only just now fully realizing he was truly affixed to his monarch, in a most undignified manner, like some sort of bizarre accessory.

Was this… supposed to happen? No, nonono, that was crazy, no creature could possibly be meant to breed like this. This couldn’t have really been the case, no, it simply looked like that. Hah, how silly!

Rouxls carefully lifted his legs and tried to stand up on them somewhat. Much to his dismay, he couldn’t lift himself further than the member let him, pulling at his rear painfully the more he tried, until he gave up and fell back down on his back.

Oh. This was real. He really was stuck.

_ Oh. _

For a moment, duke Kaard laid there on top of his king, staring into the ceiling, dumbstruck. His tired mind couldn’t fathom the situation he was in. This had to be some sorta strange dream, was it not? His exhausted body and his woozy mind soon gave way to tiredness. He couldn’t even begin to figure this all out, and soon, he fell into an uneasy slumber…

He woke up in a flinch when a careful knock on the door broke the silence. A short moment later he was pushed up, King Spade sitting up under him in just as much alarm. Both Darkners looked to the door, then at each other, then back at the door, both clearly startled and very unprepared to be seen at the moment.

“Duke Kaard?” a careful voice called from behind the door, belonging to one of Rouxl’s Diamondhead servants. Both Darkners froze in horror as the knob turned. “Your dinner is re-”

King Spade acted fast, shooting his white Spade whip out his abdominal mouth like a harpoon. The nimble and limber appendage hooked around the doorknob from inside and shut it close less than a blink of an eye after it began to open. The servant yelped loudly in shock from the other side, the sound of a platter shattering on the ground following.

Rouxls was woken from his petrified state when the king shook him roughly, giving him an urgent stare.

“Oh! Uh! I’ll- I’ll get it latere!”

His shaky shout met with concerned silence. “A-are you okay sir?” the Diamond eventually asked carefully. Rouxl’s face turned into a painful anxious grimace.

“Yes! I’m fine! No worries! Thank thee! Now leaveth me!” he shouted, trying to hide the nervosity and discomfort but failing miserably. The strange urgency wasn’t lost on the servant, quickly obliging with an answer, “yes s-sir, of course,” before they audibly hit da bricks.

Rouxls and the king both kept silent until the fast footsteps disappeared. Then slowly, King Spade let go of the doorknob. The white appendage slowly slid down to the key and with little trouble turned it locked.

King Spade exhaled, laying back down, his Spade swooshing across the floor back into his lower mouth. Rouxls stayed upright, teeth still gritted in discomfort, looking down to find himself still firmly affixed.

Now much more by his senses, worry began to fill his mind. It still hasn’t gotten any less stuck. His belly felt full, his abdomen still slightly bulging, his rear very uncomfortable. He moved his legs under him carefully to shift the weight of his body off of it, but it seemed no matter how he sat the thick hard mass pressed his guts annoyingly and most uncomfortably.

With an irked exhale he turned back to the king. The Spade laid on his back carelessly, facehole closed calmly, seemingly tired but satisfied, resting away. For a moment he watched him - he’d be almost glad to see that he managed to change his face from grumpy to satisfied for once. But none of that even occurred to him though his soreness and worries.

“Uh.... sir?” he dared to speak. King Spade didn’t answer. Rouxls tried to shift a bit more to face his king better but all it did was make him more uncomfortable. “Ah, sir, prithee speaketh to thine duke.”

Silently, the king’s resting face turned to a frown. “Mhhmh…” he growled through his teeth.

Rouxls settled on just turning his head as far as he could. “Could thy highness, ah… let go?” he pleaded softly.

King Spade didn’t answer at first. He just wanted to rest a while. Just a damn moment of peace, that’s all he was asking for. Ugh.

His facehole creeped open just a bit to frown down at the worm. Rouxls blinked in concern, giving him a careful slimy smile, when suddenly the king’s strong hand fell on his shoulder. Before he could protest King Spade pulled him back down on his back on top of him, ignoring his shocked yelp and sore groans.

“Just… give it a moment,” he half-growled, half-sighed, “the swelling will go away... eventually…” With that he closed his facehole again.

Rouxls kept silent for a while, hands apprehensively held to his chest. He gulped, turning his head up, just barely able to see the king’s chin.

“How longe is eventually?” King Spade groaned with annoyance, raising one palm to his forehead.

“I don’t know, it’s just the first knot, half an hour maybe?” he snarled, throwing his hand up before resting it on top of Rouxl’s chest. “Now be silent.”

Rouxls indeed stayed silent. But not as much from obedience as from just falling speechless. Half an hour? At this busy time of day?? Both of them had so much work to finish up before the day ended, not to mention Rouxl’s three course meal and his evening beauty routine. The king clearly knew what he was getting them both into and he didn’t even warn the duke so that he may plan accordingly. How inconsiderate!

Rouxls frown lowered to look over the large hand on his chest at his own raised gut. This  _ entire _ thing was inconsiderate. The pain and discomfort, the getting stuck, the overall lack of any asking or even warning… Something began to occur to Rouxls at that moment. A man who would so willingly hurt his rear and not even warn him could not be the same man who would mean such romantic gestures. The sharing of body heat… could it be, that it wasn’t genuine? That it wasn’t meant to pleasure him but rather… prepare him? 

An ugly picture began to form in his head. His mind for once turned away from his usual self indulgent ego, obsessed and completely convinced that everyone felt about him the same way he did himself. Suddenly he started to realize that all the king’s secret feelings for him might not have been hidden, but simply… not there.

Laying on top of the brutish Spade with that thing stuck in him, scratched up and battered from his rough handling, he suddenly found himself held in his claws like trapped moth. He has been played for a fool. King Spade didn’t see him as the kind graceful genius he was, he didn’t even see him as his equal, he saw him as his… plaything.

The chill of fear raised in his heart. But before it could overcome him, it was beaten by the heat of anger and spite. He did  _ everything _ right. He did  _ everything _ to please the king. This was not his fault, his mistake, no, it was the Spades thanklessness. For the moment Rouxl’s fear of the much larger Darkner melted away with just how  _ pissed  _ this whole thing got him. He gritted his teeth, pushing the hand off of him to fold his arms over his chest, exhaling a long harsh breath.

“Sir,” he spoke slowly but with force. “I must ask thee to dismisseth me,  _ righte now.” _

King Spade raised his head in surprise. The sudden harsh tone was very unexpected, did he even hear the worm correctly?

“What?” he mumbled, looking down. Rouxls head raised and a mismatched pair of rather angry looking eyes looked up at him resolutely.

“I saideth: Dismisseth me, sir. I haveth importante things to attende to.”

The king remained silent for a moment. Looking down at the worm, naked and covered in sweat and partially his own cum no doubt, clearly feeling his asshole spread around his dick… despite the impudent tone, the king could not help but find it all a bit amusing.

“Really now,” he raised one side of his facehole amusedly, grinning. Rouxls quickly noticed the mocking look he was given and it only served to anger him more.

“Yes,” he said with force and brash urgency. King Spades mouth curled into an even wider smile.

“Duke Kaard,” he gave a rough chuckle, making the tiny man bounce on his chest, “please enlighten me, what is it that  _ you _ of all my servants have on your agenda that’s more important than serving me?”

Rouxls eyes squinted in pure fury at the king’s dismissive laugh. Oh, only had he been in a better position to slap him right in the face! He closed his eyes and exhaled to calm down. Where a real slap wasn’t an option, a verbal one would have to do.

“Well, ACCTUALLYTH sir King Spade,” he said, “I wasth goinge to prepare Lancer for bedtime. But I suppose that thine owne royal son isth not as importante to thee as thine truly beingth lodged up mine arse.”

The king’s laugh stopped abruptly and his smile was replaced with a grimace of surprise and anger. For a moment he couldn’t even believe that the duke would talk back to him, and in such a brazen, audacious manner, too.

Rouxls himself began to realize that maybe he had gone a bit too far. His forehead covered in cold sweat and he was just about to speak up again when the king sat up, lifting him along, and suddenly grabbing his neck roughly. Rouxls gasped and grabbed onto the white fingers as King Spade pulled their faces closer to growl into his dangerously.

“What kind of tone is that to speak to me in?” he snarled. Rouxls gave a big fearfull smile, instantly back to his shaky groveling self.

“Ah-ah- sir, I jest I jest!” he whimpered through his forced laugh, “I simplyth, ah, meaneth to suggeste that, ah, thine royalty may w-warne thine loyal duke of suche, ah, antics, so that he mayth, p-plan accordinglyth…?”

King Spade remained silent, his grip not easing. For a moment he stared the shaky duke down, then let go of his neck with a quiet growl. Rouxls didn’t however get much time to catch his breath before suddenly being literally dragged by his ass across the many sheets. King Spade snarled in pain himself, moving to the edge of the mattress, ignoring the duke’s startled yelps, until he was again kneeling on the carpet beside the bed. Rouxls was flipped over awkwardly, limbs all pointed forth as he was dragged, clearly confused, startled and very uncomfortable. King Spade roughly grabbed and spread the rear he was stuck in, and with no heed to Rouxl’s pained groans and whimpers began to forcefully pull himself out. The hard tug hurt him pretty bad too, grabbing onto his second knot to ease a bit of the pull on the base of his member.

Rouxls tried to endure it, to hold on, also wanting it out - but soon enough the pain became too much.

“W-WAIT SIR! I CHANGETH MINE MINDE!” he yelped loudly, turning to the growling Spade, but his king was resolute.

“Too little, hrgh, too late,” he growled, pulling even harder - and in that moment the appendage was freed with a loud pained yelp from the both of them.

King Spade stumbled back a bit, sitting down on the dark carpet, holding onto his sore dick and groaning in pain. Rouxl’s whimpers, sobs and quiet curses could be heard from the bed, where the duke laid with his butt hanging from the edge. The Spade looked over to see the blue rear gushing with his own climax - the sight somehow kind of disgusted him, kind of amused him and kind of satisfied him at the same time. He slowly got up, grabbing the edges of his gown to cover himself back up and nonchalantly grabbed the large mug of tea from the bedside table.

Lying on the bed in the same position he was left in, Rouxl’s hands slowly reached between his legs and clasped over his poor abused butt. It hurt pretty bad, so bad he couldn’t even enjoy that the pressure in his gut finally subsided. He groaned and whimpered, even sobbed, waiting for the pain to subside, yelping quietly at every involuntary twitch of his rear.

“There, satisfied?” the king’s voice got to him but just barely. “You may get to your chores now...” King Spade took a sip of the warm tea but it tasted absolutely foul, like a salad of muddy fallen leaves, making him grimace and put the mug back down. He turned to leave, walking a bit funny, but looked back over his shoulder after unlocking the door. “Oh, and of course my duke, next time I’ll be sure to give you a written fucking announcement a few days in advance.”

With that he left the duke to his own soreness.

Rouxls laid on the bed for a long while, just calming down and letting his gut empty. Finally, with a pained groan, he shifted up on his knees, palms on the sheets, head hanging down. It didn’t hurt as much anymore and the fullness was gone. All that remained was Rouxl’s anger. Stars was he pissed. It was one thing to not appreciate his efforts to make the kingdom better. It was just plain old stupidity and lack of sense of style to refuse his ideas constantly. If anything Rouxl’s felt sorry for the poor elegance-less Spade, robbed of the grace and brilliancy that Kaard had been blessed with by his mothers.

But this, this was simply  _ abhorrent. _ Rouxls in all his generosity only thought to please the king, perhaps to get more influence and control over him, but he would never rob the Spade of the pleasure and comfort he promised. If he were the king, if he were to hold power over the Spade the same way he did over him, he would  _ never _ have treated him with such carelessness, such antipathy, such--!! ARGH!

Rouxls straightened his back, his face bright blue in anger, his fists gritted. The nerve! The arrogance! The cruelty and selfishness! Never had he been treated this way - and never should he have been treated this way!

Duke Rouxls Kaard the Blotchy of the Marais Chateau was the greatest, rarest, excellentiest most wonderful and brilliant being to ever grace the halls of this damned castle!

Wincing through his gritted teeth at the still present pain in his bum Rouxls got out of bed and furiously stomped off, through his enormous walk-in wardrobe closet into his opulent bathroom, where he took a rather violent shower. For once it only took him a moment to get dressed before he just as angrily stormed off to get his evening work done, all the while doing his best to hide his funny walk.

The dozen sheets of lined paper were scattered all over the floor of Lancer’s room, with the teen laying among the mess in a very silly pose, down on his stomach with his legs spread at his sides. With one hand under his chin and the other holding his pencil as he chewed on it absentmindedly he stared into the math workbook, desperately trying to figure out why Johnny would even have nineteen bottles of dish soap in the first place. Just as he was about to skip the third assignment in a row to figure it out later with his lesser dad, the door came flying open with none other than Rouxls stepping inside.

“Oh hey dad!” Lancer smiled widely, quickly lifting up the book, “Do you know how much a gross is? I can’t count how many eggs when-” Rouxls stomped closer and without even acknowledging the question tore the book out of his hands and threw it aside.

“Not nowe Lancer,” he growled, grabbing the startled kid off the ground. “It’s time for bed.” Lancer just looked to the duke with worry as he was lifted up, he seemed very angry, more angry than he’s ever seen him. It made him very afraid.

Rouxls shy of dive bombed the spade shaped bed with the teen, quickly pulling the cover over him, not even looking at him. His mind was still completely seering with anger, his butt hurt and as if he wasn’t already in enough of a hurry to finish up his work for the day he had a whole lot of cleaning to do back in his room. All because of that brutish, ignorant, inconsiderate-

His thoughts were abruptly stopped when a small clawed hand grabbed onto his sleeve. Rouxls finally turned to face Lancer, and his fury melted away with the sad sorry look he was being given.

“I’m so sorry,” Lancer said softly, “was the tea I made bad? I used the ferns and chitin shells and I made sure not to put any sugar or milk in, I promise!”

It stuck the duke speechless for a moment, just staring back at the child with his lips parted in surprise. Then, his mismatched eyes averted, suddenly feeling rather... ashamed of himself. Here he was, furious with his father for being heedless and insensitive, only to turn around and take it out on his son who’s done nothing wrong. This was no way to treat his protege.

Rouxls sat down on the bed beside Lancer, smiling apologetically. He took a gentle hold of his hands before he spoke, rubbing the smaller palms in his fingers calmingly.

“No no, thine tea wasth very lovely,” he assured the Spade, “I am ever so sorryth for mine rude treatemente of thee mine prince. I hadth… a disagreement, just nowe, that hadth angered me greatly.” He smiled warmly. “Nothinge of thine faulte.”

Lancer exhaled through a relieved smile, obviously glad he wasn’t in trouble after all. Rouxls smiled back, then leaned in to give the child a small smooch on the tip of his tear-shaped head. Lancer grimaced a bit - he wasn’t a baby anymore! - and shifted further under the sheet, much to the duke’s amusement.

“Heheheh, okay, nowe…” Rouxls reached into the bedside table drawer and listed through the storybooks. “Where hath we lefteth off last time?”

“Just read me the one about the parrot in the package!” Lancer demanded, still rubbing the smooch off of his head.

“Again?” Rouxls chuckled, “very welle then.” Satisfied, Lancer settled down comfortably, tongue poking out, as the duke got to reading. Through his calm melodious voice, even when his pronunciation was often hard to understand, Lancer happily listened to his favourite story, soon falling asleep...

Rouxls carefully closed the book and set it on the bedside table. He was glad he could fix his mistake before leaving Lancer to think his anger was somehow his fault. As he got up and turned off the light, carefully stepping between the toys on the ground to get to the door, he made a small but important promise to himself.

He would never again make Lancer endure his own backlash to his father’s rudeness and cruelty.

**Author's Note:**

> for updates you can follow me on tumblr http://stevethetoothwrites.tumblr.com/  
or join my discord server https://discord.gg/NVBtpXk


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